The Seventh-day Adventist Church does not have its foundation in the Bible for it did not come into existence until the mid 1800’s. It began under the misguided leadership of William Miller, who was proven to be a false prophet when he predicted the end of the world in 1843 and again in 1844 (Deut. 18:22; Matthew 24:36). When his prophecies failed, Miller disappeared from the religious scene.

James White and his wife Ellen became the leaders of Miller’s movement. They added more doctrines to those taught by Miller. The Seventh-day Adventist Church was formally organized in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA in 1863.

Ellen G. White claimed to be inspired by God. She claimed God gave her visions and revelations (she suffered from hallucinations as a result of a childhood accident). In 1847, Mrs. White claimed she had a vision in which she was taken up into Heaven. She said the ten commandments were shown to her. The fourth commandment (“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy”) had a bright light around it, according to her. She said this meant that keeping the sabbath (Saturday, the seventh day of the week) was required of all people.

Try to prove that we are to keep the sabbath today, Seventh-day Adventists say there are two laws in the Old Testament: (1) the Law of God - the ten commandments; (2) the Law of Moses - the ceremonial law. They also claim that only the Law of Moses was done away when Christ died on the cross. The Law of God (ten commandments), which includes the command to “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy,” was not done away, Adventists say. They teach it is still binding upon all people today.

This Adventist view of the Law is a plain contradiction of Bible teaching! The New Testament teaches that we today are under no part of the Old Testament (Romans 7:1-7; 2 Corinthians 3:1-18; Galatians 3:24-25; Ephesians 2:13-16; Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 7:12; 8:7).

The Bible also clearly teaches that the “Law of God” and the “Law of Moses” refer to the same law (Nehemiah 8:1, 18; Ezra 7:6, 12; Luke 2:22-23). When Jesus did away with the Law of Moses, He did away with the Old Testament Law of God, for the two are the same. The Bible also teaches that Christians are to worship on Sunday, the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; Revelation 1:10).

Following are seven reasons people today are not bound to keep the sabbath (Saturday):

(1) In 2 Corinthians 3, a comparison of terms is used to contrast “that which is abolished” (verse 13, KJV) and “passing away” (verses 7, 11, 14) with that which “remaineth” (verse 11).
The ten commandments are included in the list of those things which were abolished and done away with!

(2) The letter to the Galatians was written to warn of false teachers who were trying to take away the freedom which Christians have in Jesus Christ. They wanted to bring them into slavery to the Law of Moses (Galatians 2:4; 5:1). The Law of Moses was given 450 years after God’s promise to Abraham (Galatians 3:17). The Law of Moses, which included the ten commandments, was given until the “Seed” (Christ) should come (Galatians 3:19). The Law of Moses was a “tutor” to bring us to faith in Christ (Galatians 3:24-25). But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor (The Law of Moses).

(3) In Romans 7, the apostle Paul says that Christians are “dead to the law” (Romans 7:4). He also says that we have been “delivered from the law” (verse 6). The law we are dead to said “You shall not covet” (verse 7). Since this is one of the ten commandments, this means the law we are dead to and discharged from is the law which contained the ten commandments. The tenth commandment is: “Thou shalt not covet” (Exodus 20:17).

(4) Jeremiah 31:31-34 is a prophecy regarding the Law which included the ten commandments: “Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt...” In Hebrews 8:8-13, we see the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy. The covenant that God made with Israel and Judah when He led them out of Egypt was the Law given at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 20).

It included the ten commandments. The writer of Hebrews says: “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second” (8:7). Please note also that the sabbath was made known at Sinai, not at the creation as the Adventists argue (Nehemiah 9:13-14).

(5) Paul wrote to the Christians in Colossae that “the bond written in ordinances” (a direct reference to the ten commandments) “that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he hath taken it out that way, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14).

(6) After Paul had told the Christians in Colossae that the “bond written in ordinances” was nailed to the cross, he taught them: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day: which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s” (Colossians 2:16-17). These passages show that the sabbath is not binding today, nor has it ever been binding on Christians. It was only for the people of Israel before Christ’s death.

(7) It is wrong to go to the Old Testament to support a doctrine when we clearly live under the New Testament today, In fact, Paul said those who seek to be justified by the Old Law are “severed from Christ,” and are, “fallen away from grace” (Galatians 5:4).

The church of the Bible was established by Jesus Christ, not Ellen White (Matthew 16:18). It began in Jerusalem, not Battle Creek, Michigan (Acts 2)! It was established in 33 AD, not in 1863. The church of the Bible is known as “the churches of Christ” not “the Seventh-day Adventist Church” (Romans 16:16). Which one then is from God?

There were many Christians long before Ellen White claimed to have her revelations from God. There has never been a need for anything but the Gospel to save us from our sins (Romans 1:16). Long before Ellen White was born, the apostle Peter wrote that God had given us “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). We do not need Ellen White, nor any of her so-called revelations, to be saved. Nor do we need the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We can obey the simple Gospel which was preached in the first century, and the Lord will add us to the church that He Himself built (Matthew 16:18; Acts 2:36-47).